Of a Glad Songhttps://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com
Christmas in MusicThu, 14 Dec 2017 02:10:33 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/99f760117854e1de52750bcfa5ebbde7?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngOf a Glad Songhttps://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com
Christmas 2013https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/christmas-2013/
https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/christmas-2013/#respondSun, 08 Dec 2013 14:22:28 +0000http://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/?p=272]]>Another holiday season is upon us, and here’s my latest Christmas song! My inspiration came from our wonderful LDS missionaries who volunteer two years of their lives to serve the Lord. The song has been arranged for solo voice or choir. Also, don’t look for a carol from last year. I didn’t compose one in 2012 because I was too involved in the writing of my new musical version of “Little Women” with my daughter Leigh. That project was completed and presented as a work in progress at Southern Virginia University in December of 2012.

]]>https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/christmas-2013/feed/0StoddardsRecordings of the Carolshttps://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/test/
https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/test/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2011 23:57:56 +0000http://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/?p=252]]>The following links will lead you to audio files of my “December Tales” CD, recorded in 1999. These 16 carols are sung by John Huntington, who is accompanied by Ann Bunker on piano and a full orchestra.

In February of 2011, my dear friend Mark Park produced a new recording of John Huntington singing all 27 carols, with the original piano accompaniments again played by Ann Bunker. This lovingly recorded CD features the 11 songs composed since the 1999 recording (excluding this year’s carol).

Merry Christmas everybody from the Stoddards of Virginia. This year’s carol, “If You Could Stay Awake on Christmas Eve,” is posted below. The melody is derived from one of the interlude pieces I recently composed for my own stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The production was performed at Southern Virginia University last month to sell-out crowds. But that’s another story. Never mind. Anyway, the lyric has nothing to do with Jane Austen. The tune sounded Beethoven-esque in the play, but when I came up with the idea of a parent tempting a child to stay awake to catch a glimpse of Santa–all the while really trying to get the kid to sleep, I added an accompaniment figure that edged the song towards Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker territory.

This carol is dedicated to Eliza and Penny Olsen, daughters of our good friends Burke and Nicole Olsen. Eliza is four, the perfect age to be delighted by this song. She can sing it to her 1-year old sister to keep her awake on Christmas Eve.

I humbly announce the song for Holiday 2010! The dedication is to Amaree Cluff and my daughter, Leigh, who have been encouraging me at gunpoint to write my own musical version of Little Women. As devotees of the novel might recall, the book opens at Christmas, and because I always work in chronological order, this was one of the first songs written. Because the lyrics were story-specific, I adapted them for this carol. I hope you enjoy the jaunty pace and humorous but sincere tone of the song!

Fans of the carols might be interested to know that the music for “The Christmas House,” my carol from 2003, was also originally composed as incidental music for a play adaptation of Little Women. Hmm, I can’t seem to escape Orchard House!

]]>https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/christmas-2010/feed/3StoddardsThe Carolshttps://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/old-carols/
https://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/old-carols/#commentsSat, 18 Dec 2010 02:34:09 +0000http://stoddardgladsong.wordpress.com/?p=48]]>Below are PDF’s of all 27 carols. These were revised and standardize in December 2010, so please consider these to be the definitive versions. They’re available for you to download provided that you understand that permission must be granted for use in performance.